The moderator of a specific Germanic research group on Facebook quoted
four paragraphs of a post from an unnamed "Ancestry message board" as a
discussion point about what happened to Germans after Pomerania became Poland.

yes, the item was in quotes

no, there is no hyperlink back to
the original post

WHY
is this important?

One must provide the link to a message board post even when quoting part if it. That's
citing a source, an essential if you want to build on a firm foundation. This
also provides the opportunity for readers to:

contact the original poster to discover his source info

be in conversation with others on that message board

place the quote in
context

Linda Woodward Geiger provides insight in her article "Using the Compilations of Others", available online, originally published in OnBoard 7 (Sept 2001): 20-21 by the Board for Certification of Genealogists:

"Potentially, erroneous information is contained in published genealogies, county histories, genealogical lineages (including electronic files), and an abundant number of Web sites. Yet all of these sources also have the potential to contain helpful information for our research. When combined with proper caution to verify the validity of the material, the use of these sources can be of tremendous value to the researcher."

THERE IS THAT LITTLE THING called copyright

Aside from "giving credit where credit is due" FamilySearch should lead the way in providing access to accurate information. I
don't know how to put this delicately... but here goes:

The
words written by a person, even on a public message board, are covered by copyright and full attribution should be given.

We live in a world where copying and pasting genealogy info from one tree to another, regardless of source analysis, is an accepted but dangerous activity. The resulting family history is likely fraught with errors. Even importing a trusted genealogist's work should be done carefully with an eye to newly-available record groups for the places where each ancestor lived.

From a scientific standpoint, Ol' Myrt here simply cannot fathom why people would want to compile a fictitious family history.

SHINING LIGHT

FamilySearch is arguably one of the top two genealogy resources on the Internet. The distribution of non-digital materials through the network of 4,000+ FamilySearch Centers throughout the world is phenomenal.

FamilySearch's example should be to
scrupulously cite sources of information. The correct principle is taught, and
aspiring family historians will follow suit.

Thank you! I get so frustrated when I find trees on Ancestry and there are absolutely no source citations. AND if you advise them of a blatant error they may just ignore you. I am trusting Family Search's new Family Tree much more because they ask for sources or to explain why you think a fact is different from the original post.